Nora Zelevansky, author of Will You Won’t You Want Me? (available April 19), is one of our incredible clients who consistently writes and figures out new ways to use content and her writing to help with her author brand. Whether she’s ramping things up when she has a new book out like she does this month or keeping things going between books, Nora has some good advice to help writers renew their focus and write well, which includes the mind and body. After reading her great essay below be sure to check out Will You Won’t You Want Me?. And don’t just take our word for it, Vanity Fair, Cosmo, Bustle and Booklist are all raving about Nora’s sophomore novel as well.
This morning, I “confessed” to my husband, Andrew, that I was thinking of taking a late morning barre class. I felt guilty because I should have been working, not exercising.
“Sometimes you have to take care of number four,” he shrugged. (That’s “four” because I sometimes give him, my daughter and my cat precedence.)
Andrew may have been joking, but he was also right: Work, especially writing, takes a certain amount of cerebral and emotional stamina. I’m an author and freelance journalist, and there are great plusses to my largely unencumbered lifestyle. But I also hardly ever have the option of spending an uninspired day falling into an Internet k-hole or playing games on my phone, knowing that someone else might pickup the slack. There is no one else. And there are deadlines.
Plus, there’s a certain amount of anxiety that goes into staring down a blank page, no matter how many thousands of times you’ve done it before. And doing that while feeling sluggish and distracted by outside stresses is not ideal. After all, writing requires that you articulate ideas—clearly, in an ideal world. I know that if I begin the day’s work feeling exhausted and preoccupied, I’m not going to get very far; and I’m definitely not going to write something good. Don’t even get me started on the terrible state of my word recall when I haven’t slept! The other day, I had to text my sister and ask: “What’s that word again for when you stop something for a second, temporarily, like on a TV?”
Pause.
Sometimes taking a moment to stop and breathe—or plié at a barre—is the answer. But that doesn’t make it an obvious or easy choice.
When I started writing my upcoming novel, Will You Won’t You Want Me?, I was deeply committed to this Exhale Core Fusion 30-Day Sculpt program. Basically, it was a different 20-minute workout for each day of the month. I would get dressed in my overdetermined gear, set up my yoga mat before my TV and do what I’m sure was a poor approximation of each sequence.
To be clear, I am actually more of a reluctant, sporadic exerciser. Like many people, I go through active and deeply inactive (tush firmly planted on couch) phases. But I was trying to work using a National Novel Writing Month-type model of writing at least 1,700 words every single day for a concentrated amount of time, and the workout seemed to jive with that and help create a rhythm for my daily routine.
There are times when I’ve actually used writing as an excuse not to exercise, arguing that I couldn’t do both because I have to start each first thing in the morning or else skip them entirely. But these short workouts included enough yoga poses and relaxed breathing that I could let my mind wander to the day’s writing. I didn’t feel panicked by starting 20 minutes later because, by the time I was ready to sit down at my desk, I already had ideas brewing about where to begin. It unlocked creative energy.
Luckily, for when I’m not in a fitness phase, though, practicing wellness doesn’t necessarily mean exercising. I can’t tell you how many times a leisurely stroll and discussion with my husband has solved a plotting problem for me. Just getting outside, stepping away for a moment, and giving the ideas some air—both literally and figuratively—shifts your perspective. I even think a massage can help, as you allow your mind to wander.
As for healthy eating, though, I’m of two minds: I am a pressed juice and almond milk smoothie junkie. But I also think there’s a place for a Diet Coke and pretzel or chocolate chip muffin snack while writing. Brain food!
But probably the most beneficial wellness practice I try (the operative word being “try”) to maintain is meditation. There are countless scientific studies about the mind-expansive power of shutting off for a period and achieving deep rest; not to mention just taking a quick moment to root yourself in the present and stop over-thinking the past or future. Of course, these may seem like abstract benefits for writing, but just think about the notion of a tool that can stop you from getting ahead of yourself in a story or dwelling (and stalling) too long on an edit of something written long before.
Thanks to an article that I researched years ago, I’ve been trained in a few different kinds of meditation. (Also, my artist father is a longtime believer, and he annoyed me about it for years before I tried.) But mindfulness was such a huge part of my existence while writing this second novel that the main character, Marjorie, actually practices it in the book. She’s feeling stuck in her life and spinning out, and the mindfulness helps her to quell her anxiety—well, to an extent. She can still be a spazz.
But then, who can’t? Ultimately, feeling strong and clearheaded can make writing less daunting, at the very least. But, then, having energy and clarity helps us achieve more in just about every arena. And as for my yummy juices? Well, they just taste good. And what’s more inspiring than that?
About the Author:
Nora Zelevansky is the author of upcoming novel Will You Won’t You Want Me? (April 19, 2016) and Semi-Charmed Life. Her writing has appeared in ELLE, T Magazine (The New York Times), Town & Country, the Los Angeles Times, The Wall Street Journal and Vanity Fair, among others. She lives with her husband and daughter in Brooklyn, New York.
About the book:
Who is the real Marjorie Plum? Marjorie herself has no clue. She’s spent the decade since high school dwelling on her glory days. When things go from bad to worse, Marjorie is forced to move into a tiny Brooklyn apartment and take on a tutoring job for extra money.
At her most lost moment, Marjorie is surprised by renewed interest from a childhood crush and increasingly flirty banter with a grumpy new boss. Suddenly with the help of her 11-year-old tutee and mini me, as well as her Dalai Lama-channeling roommate, Marjorie must decide between the life she’s always dreamed of and the one she never thought to imagine.
Will You Won’t You Want Me? is available April 19, order your copy now!
Leave A Comment